Dark skies

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On 21 August, a giant shadow cast by the Moon swept across America, marking the first total solar eclipse since the country's founding in 1776 where totality made exclusive landfall in the US. It was also 99 years since a solar eclipse had crossed from the west to the east coast.

And what an awesome event it was. Reporting from Madras, Oregon, the BBC's Pallab Ghosh said: "You can see that it's quarter past 10 in the morning, but it seems like night-time. We're just a few seconds away from the total eclipse... it looks like a smiley face in the sky."

After totality had passed, he added: "I got goosebumps; it just feels like a completely dream-like state."